Vidhara

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

§49Previous bad character not relevant, except in reply

In criminal proceedings, the fact that the accused has a bad character, is irrelevant, unless evidence has been given that he has a good character, in which case it becomes relevant.

Explanation 1.—This section does not apply to cases in which the bad character of any person is itself a fact in issue.

Explanation 2.—A previous conviction is relevant as evidence of bad character.

Old law ⇄ new law

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Source & version

Official text: Gazette of India via MHA (official)

Official Gazette text: The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (47 of 2023), English PDF as hosted by Ministry of Home Affairs (mha.gov.in, file 250882_english_01042024_0.pdf). Extracted via pdftotext 26.07 -bbox and @nexlex/ingest gazette-bbox parser on 2026-07-14. Automated parse; structural validation + spot verification; full clause-level proofread pending.

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